Roaster Chicken Pot Pie

Comfort food at its finest!

You know.. for around $5.00, roaster chickens are a pretty good deal.  With just two of us here at home, we usually get a nice meal one night, and have chicken left over the next day.  I really love a good, roasted chicken and my favorite place to buy one is Costco.  Big, plump, juicy and flavorful, they really are a bargain.

This weekend, I decided to use the rest of our chicken and carcass for one of my husband's favorite meals - Chicken Pot Pie.  I LOVE a really good flavor for the gravy in a pot pie - not one of those pale yellow blobs that surrounds dried meat and veggies, but something hearty and rich.  The only thing that makes that type of broth is a Pressure Cooker.  Of course, you can do this same dish in a traditional pot, but you need to cook your carcass about 40 minutes to get the same effect.

Roaster Chicken Pot Pie

1 Whole Roaster Chicken with meat and skin pulled off the carcass
2 TBS olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
Ground fresh pepper to taste
6 cups low sodium Chicken broth
1/2 cup half and half
4-5 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
4 medium carrots, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1 cup frozen peas
1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 TBS water

After the pressure releases.. the broth is ethereal and rich!

1. Carefully pull all the meat off the chicken carcass.  Peel back the skin and discard.  The skin is VERY salty and using it, while enhancing the flavor, will make your broth too salty.  Chop or pull chicken pieces apart, refrigerate until ready to use.  Break the carcass up into leg bones, thigh bones, break the breast piece in half.  Set aside.
2. In a 6 or 8 quart Pressure Cooker, heat oil over medium heat.  For more information on Pressure Cookers, click here!  Add the onions and celery.  Saute together for about 8-10 minutes or until onion is soft.  Add the thyme, poultry seasoning and fresh pepper.  Stir for about 30 seconds until the flavors open in the spices.  Add the chicken broth and carcass.  Stir to combine.  Lock the lid in place and bring up to full pressure.  Reduce the heat to medium low and cook on full pressure for approximately 20 minutes.  Let the pot reduce the pressure on its own by removing it from the heat when finished.  (NOTE:  If you don't have a pressure cooker, use a dutch oven, but let the carcass simmer on low heat for about 40 minutes)
3. In the meantime, bring potatoes and carrots to a boil with water or use any leftover chicken broth.  Let them simmer for about 10 minutes or until slightly tender.  Remove from heat and drain veggies.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  When your pressure cooker has fully released, strain the broth through a strainer into a large bowl.  Discard the carcass, onion and celery. 
5. Return the broth back to the pressure cooker and bring to a simmer.  Thicken with a slurry of cornstarch and water.  It depends on how thick you like your sauce, but I used about 1/3 cup of cornstarch and mixed it with water.  As my sauce simmered, I added it slowly - a little at a time until the desired thickness was reached.  Stir in half and half.  Stir in chicken chunks, potatoes, carrots and toss in the frozen peas.
6. I used a deep dish pie plate and scooped the filling into the plate.  You can make individual ramekins or use a shallow casserole dish.  It's up to you.  If you have extra filling, you can freeze it or make another pot pie the following day.  (PS  My dogs LOVE this as a stew treat for dinner - without the puff pastry, of course.  They aren't THAT spoiled!)
7. Unroll the puff pastry and if it needs to be larger, then roll it out gently with a rolling pin to suit your dish.  Let the edges drape over the sides of the dish.  You can brush egg white around the outside edge of your dish to help your pastry stick to the edges better.  Use the remaining egg white and brush your pastry all over.  Cut a few slits to allow the steam to release. 

Bake at 425 Degrees for approximately 25 minutes. 

Options:  You can top your pie with a traditional pie crust if you like, or perhaps biscuits is your preference.  You can even top with mashed potatoes for a chicken Shepherd's Pie.  If you use any of these other toppings, adjust your oven accordingly.

Also note, Roaster Chickens from the store are generally salty.  Taste test your broth for salt and enhance with more if you wish.